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The “Good Enough” pitch with Gregg Barcus

Gregg Barcus presents at Gravitate Valley Junction as part of West Des Moines Business Incubator's monthly Expert Advice series.

You have just designed the most awesome product of all time. You have put together a lean and brilliant team. Now it’s time to go out and pitch your company. How do you go about it? This was the topic of discussion during the lunch hour presentation on Tuesday at the Gravitate in Valley Junction.

As part of an Expert Advice series hosted by the West Des Moines Business Incubator, Gregg Barcus shared the basic principles of what goes into making a “good enough” pitch.

Here are some of the main takeaways from the presentation:

Articulate the opportunity

A good pitch deck will focus on what’s important to your specific audience.

“You have very limited time to describe what you’re doing to people,” Barcus said. “You need to focus on what problem you’re solving because you only get one shot with most audiences.”

If you’re reading, you’re not listening

Barcus says to avoid using long sentences in paragraphs to keep the audience focused on what you’re saying rather than reading a powerpoint and not paying attention to the pitch. He recommends using pictures and graphics as opposed to text whenever possible.

No one cares about your technology

“Technologists tend to love to talk about their technology,” Barcus said. “And that is the fastest way to lose an audience. Non-technologists are going to lose interest and other technologists are thinking about ways you’re doing it wrong and they would have done it differently.”

Engage your audience

Delivery is equally important to content said Barcus.

“Pitching is not just a presentation of facts. Pitching is about engaging your audience,” Barcus said. “If you don’t do that, nothing else makes any difference.”

Watch the video below to see Barcus’ entire presentation.

Previous Coverage

Gregg Barcus teaches a new generation of entrepreneurs at Venture School – July 26, 2018